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Computer Guru Request

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zedy
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Zaq
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Post  Zaq Sat Jul 26, 2014 11:01 pm

Alright dudes, I'm sufficiently down the trail of wanting a newer computer that I figured I should ask for help.  I spent much of the day today putting together a parts list, after spending a great deal of time reading specs and reviews and pretending like I understood which numbers were important and which numbers just made the box more EXTREME.  I think I fooled them.  

So here's my list.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/7gtfnQ

I'll need everything, and even the budgest of the budgety keyboard/speakers don't cover for needing a monitor, OS and the like, but the current total price is... higher than I'm comfortable with.  Particularly when I'm sure to fuck it up and glue the cpu to my hair or something.  So I'm looking for general suggestions, advice and other tips.  particularly with an eye towards shaving the price a bit if possible.

A couple of extra thoughts that might lead to good suggestions:
My gaming mostly consists of wondering why the AI takes so long in CIV 5, remembering that time I could play Diablo, etc.  I don't want to have to replace anything anytime soon, but I'm not exactly on the razor's edge here. I'm Ok not playing Crysis 4 in 3D.  Is this appropriately powerful or is there some Tool-Time machismo that could be toned down.

Key issues for me are:
Heat, I would just as soon not have an extra heater in my house in the summer.
Noise, no helicopter imitations from the fans por favor.
Glare,  I picked the monitor for a ~24" that was purportedly glare resistant and is Ips (which means somethingsomething viewing angles?).  Spears suggested craigslist for this but that would involve talking to people, and even worse the kind of people who repeatedly try and sell me tbs out of their truck.  While we're both driving separate vehicles.  Noty.

Lastly, if I were to ballpark this happening as sometime within the next month would that be right before some major price drops or anything of that ilk that I should just wait out?

Let me know dudes.

-To contribute something I should point out that Guacamelee is a superb game and that you all should try and grab it.  It's always on sale and while short is totally enjoyable.  Additionally if you have real-life friends of the 'might sit on your couch' variety, Towerfall Ascension is fucking amazeballs good.

Zaq

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Post  Pufftrees Mon Jul 28, 2014 3:28 pm

Nice, now you can play WoW at good frame rate!

Overall a pretty nice setup, it's hard to go wrong with a lot of these components.   Should be a beast for a good bit of time.  My computer destroys just about everything now and yours should be faster.

Edit: Im retarded and didn't see your other hard drive Smile  That's awesome to have SSD and a big other one, thats how I have my computer now.

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Post  zedy Mon Jul 28, 2014 11:50 pm

It looks like you are spending way to much on your tower, especially for one without a power supply. 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156259

Here is one that is the same as yours with a same wattage power supply for less money then just your tower.  The rest of your parts like Puff said are really good, better then mine as well.  So my question is if all you are playing is civ 5 and diablo do you really need that much machine?  If it is outside your budget I'll gladly help you find something that is still good just not amazing as what you have here for that price.  Just let me know what your budget is and I'll give you a list.

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Post  Zaq Tue Jul 29, 2014 4:54 pm

Thanks for the idea Zed. I hadn’t really looked very deeply at cases, and I think I just grabbed that one off Logical Increments or something similar. I checked the one you suggested, and a couple others largely at random, and it seems they either have pretty hostile reviews or are hideous. I admittedly don’t particularly care all that much what it looks like, but advertising racing stripes and having a Voltron™ face on the front did make me lol. And it’s one of the much better looking ones. Look at this one, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156098 :@.

The external psu is reportedly pretty quiet (major plus), and the case appears big enough for all stuff to fit easily and largely idiot(me) proof. If you have any suggestions that would be awesome.

I totally hear you on the overdoing it, and I’m torn. I certainly don’t own and don’t go looking for games that do anything fancy but that’s at least somewhat because my computer would go super nova if I even tried (trine 2 makes my comp chug to the point of non-playable for example). I might branch out a bit were it an option, and it would be nice to be able to handle any of the interesting console ports eventually. Even then I think a large part of the rationalization is that there’s a goodly-bit of future proofing which may be overestimating durability. The cpu and card-type were on some list as good value/price options, and the card specifically is potentially quiet which would be nice. I think it’s at about 850ish not counting monitor/Os which is a bit high but not unbearable.

Small tweaks to the list http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Wr96pg

Thanks for the help brochachos.

and what the fuck happened to the black text. Did Lokky break something?

Zaq

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Post  zedy Tue Jul 29, 2014 6:24 pm

Cyber Monday should be the day you are looking at Zaq, whatever you need now get now, but whatever you don't need wait for then as the prices will be considerably cheaper.  Your monitor, keyboard, mouse, and solid state drive will be on sale and for a much cheaper price then what you plan on paying now.  You can just use your current monitor, keyboard, and mouse and you will be just fine.  Heck you could probably just rip out your current cd/dvd player from your computer as well and use that, and then pick up a blue ray one for a similar price when they are on sale. The solid state drive imo isn't really necessary as it isn't required for your system to run and only boosts the speed in which your os loads and how fast programs start.  When all is said and done you could probably save $100 or more this way.

Oh and the case you have looks good, just remember the more fans it has the louder it will be.

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Post  Zaq Wed Jul 30, 2014 5:10 pm

FisherPriceMyFirstComputer v2.0* does not have salvageable parts.  Reasonably sure I’m looking to buy things sooner than December, though I had forgotten that sale was a thing and it’s worth remembering in the future.

*With working “S”-key

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Post  Sapphic Thu Jul 31, 2014 6:36 pm

Its a nice build for the most part, here are my nit picks:

I would spend an extra 10 dollar and get some real ram.  Kingston is what i normally use, corsair, geil, patriot are all probably good as well.  For the best results see if its on the list of supported ram for your motherboard.  Not necessary but its good to check .  you will almost certainly have to flash the bios either way...so dont buy based on that list but if it comes down to something not on the list and something on the list i would get something you know is supported by asus, as they are notorious for having shit tier customer service.  I like them as company I guess, I have never had to use the customer service as everything has worked.

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/SocketAM3+/M5A97_LE_R2.0/M5A97_LE_R20-Memory-QVL.pdf

For the type of games you are playing you really want more CPU than graphics card.  CIV 5 is very CPU intensive.  I would go with the FX-8320 and less graphics card, its a lot easier to upgrade your graphics card latter or just add another one when the price goes down. Get a CPU from this decade (Actually its only a couple years old, but I digress).  Changing the cpu is more challenging and you can run into issues with your windows license.  I would consider an nvidia card in the 200 dollar range, they should be getting cheap as the 800 series is expected to come out soon.  If you want to possibly run two cards in the future to play those 3d games all the kiddies have been talking about you would want to spend another 50 bucks and get a slightly bigger psu.  The card you have now is good though, I have the exact same chipset in the 7970.  It runs fast, but like all amd cards the drivers will crash from time to time.  It looks better on paper, it can certainly mine doge coins faster, but for games I would recommend going nvidia.

"I'm Ok not playing Crysis 4 in 3D"


Thats an ironic  statement because I got the 7970 so I could handle the oculus rift.  You could get a little less card and still play everything from today at high or ultra at 1080p.  Nice to have some future proofing though, the next gen of space sims is right around the corner!

ew just noticed windows 8.  Get windows 7...unless you already have 8 and love it, or you are getting a touch screen monitor.  Nothing good to say about windows 8, I have it running on my laptop.


Good call on the ssd drive, you will love it.  You will realize how much of your life has been wasted waiting on windows to boot. 

those speakers will suck horribly.  Get a set of headphones or drop a little more money for speakers with a small subwoofer.  Go to best buy and listen to them before you buy them.  Cyber acoustics has a nice pair if they come working for like 40 bucks.  They have a new model out which I havent heard but is only 25 

http://www.amazon.com/Cyber-Acoustics-Computer-Speakers-CA-3090/dp/B00006B9W1/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1406846004&sr=8-2&keywords=cyber+acoustics+speakers

The best advice I would give you is: now is not the time to pinch pennies.  Your going to be spending over a grand probably or close to it...dont skimp and you will be very happy now and in 5 years.  What's another 50 or a hundred bucks when your spending a grand?  NOthing really only 5-10%.  5% of a dollar is only 5 cents and you wouldnt complain or stress about that would you?  Exactly, the math is sound, logical, and trustworthy.  Think about how much you spent at kentucky fried chicken last night? Damn near 50 dollars.  Only to shit it out 4 hours later Sad  Don't skimp ona computer you will be using probably everyday for the next 5 years.

The most important shit is the Power supply (I have the same model power supply, but silver certified on my older computer which has been running for a couple years so i would say you are good), followed by the mobo, and then the cpu...everything else is easy to replace.

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Post  Zaq Fri Aug 01, 2014 12:40 am

Thanks Sapph, I looked into the memory thing.  And I’m learning… something!  But if one of you folks could explain breaking down a choice of the following to pair with the mobo.

From the QVL http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/SocketAM3+/M5A99FX_PRO_R20/M5A_Series_DRAM_QVL_201406.pdf the only choice for a 2x4 set up (which is the ‘best’ way to get 8 if possible yes?) is Adata. None of their stuff had more than like 10 reviews on Newegg which suggest they’re some kind of unknown.  Maybe?

Anyway I’m looking at a choice between the 3 of these -all new egg links for easy comparison, but all can be found for ~$80 or close enough that price is not a factor.
Adata 1 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211810
Adata 2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211768
Kingston http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104173

So questions:  Are having spoilers so your memory can drive fast important, do those heat things really matter?   How important is that QVL list?  Sapph’s not the only person who’s felt like Kingston is usually good?  Given that they cost the same what would you choose?

Also I put Win7 back in but I figured I’d ask a question on that front as well.
I’m comfortable on my mac’s OS, so any transition to windows is going to be pretty jarring.  I figured that being the case I might as well just go for 8 and adapt to that instead of 7.  I was hoping that 8 would be more ‘noob-friendly’ even if touch interfaces and apps are the devil’s work.  But then I went and looked at some reviews of 8.1 and ugh that shit is horrendous.  Is there any reason to not just get 7 and use it till like W9 or something?

You dudes have been a super help so far, very thanks.

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Post  Sapphic Sat Aug 02, 2014 6:26 pm

Well as far as windows, microsoft said they are going back to the old desktop for windows 9, so might as well get used to the start menu.  Windows 8 offers nothing that I can think of that windows 7 doesnt.  I would put some version of windows on your pc, but I am pretty sure you can also run OSX if you wanted.  

I wouldn't put too much stock in the qvl, its basically the ram they tested when they manufactured the mobo.  Just a good refrence point.  As long as the brand is on there it should be fine, never mind the specific model.  I have never had any problems.  Read some of the reviews on the mobo and see what other people used that worked.  

Also MSI will have done lots of bios updates at this point, so even if its not on the list it probably works.  The team friendship ram you had before would probably work fine...its all a craps shoot.  You either get working ram, or you dont.  The actual chips are all the same, you are just buying from someone who attached them to a waffer board and hopefully tested it before selling it too you.  So bigger brands are better I would say, I would avoid the aData. Not to mention the way it looks  Shocked 

The heat sinks do nothing really.  They are designed for overclocking, but if you want to overclock air flow is more important than a gawdy heat sink I learned from my last computer.  The aDATA is just going for show.  SOme ram comes with huge copper pipes attached to more copper that actually does transfer heat...but passive cooling is only as good as the fans moveing the hot air out of the case.  Getting a nice case is so worth it.  I will never buy another case with screws in it again.  If your wondering i went with this guy, (actually I have a window, but everything else is the same)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352020

The corsair case should be pretty good.  Its max video card size is a foot and half an inch and your card is basically a food long...so it will be a tight squeeze but should be fine.  You might have to plug in your power cords before you put it in the case.

as far as ram, i would use one of these...amazon seems to be cheaper.

http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-Desktop-Memory-CML8GX3M2A1600C9/dp/B00569K7LM/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1407017606&sr=8-8&keywords=corsair+ram

http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Technology-Modules-KHX1600C9D3K2-8GX/dp/B0037TO5C0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407017277&sr=8-1&keywords=kingston+ram


IF i am building a computer with no window I just get the budget ram with no heat sink, its usually like 20 bucks cheaper.  This is one of those strange times when its actually the same price, guess they are having a sale...

http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-1600MHz-PC3-12800-Non-ECC-KVR16N11S8/dp/B008CP5QR2/ref=sr_1_16?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1407019600&sr=1-16&keywords=kingston+ram

If you have a window I would get something that looks pretty, regardless of sale price, but thats me I like to make the inside look good.  good luck!

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Post  Zaq Sun Aug 03, 2014 3:47 pm

Ok. With much handholding I think I’ve gotten to an essentially finalized list.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Q9syt6

I lowered the card to a 270x, and then put the difference into an FX-8320 and motherboard. I’m pretty sure the 500w PSU is appropriate (confirm/deny) but the 600W one is like $10 more and the more I look (and consequently don’t understand) the more anxious this makes me. Today’s threat level is sunshine.

Total w/o monitor or OS is ~950 which feels ok.

Does that seem like it’s ~$75-$100 better than the Fx-6300 and significantly cheaper mobo?
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/dX9st6

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Post  Sapphic Sun Aug 03, 2014 7:23 pm

There are wattage calculators out on the internets.  There is one on new egg

http://images10.newegg.com/BizIntell/tool/psucalc/index.html

but it seems outdated, you can also try 

http://www.coolermaster.outervision.com/PSUEngine2

The cooler master one seems to be more accurate, saying you need about 475 watts.  I would spend the extra 100 and get a 600 or 650.  Make sure its name brand though, get something with a warranty that is 2-3 years.

I think the cpu will work well for you.  As far as the motherboard I dont think you are getting much for the extra 50 dollars.  Basically you are getting two things, nicer heatsinks and a second PCI slot with 16 pipes.  The heatsinks would be nice if you are going to overclock, and they look cooler.  The extra PCI slot is ideal for two gpus.  I doesnt sound like you wanna do this either.  If you do you would want around a 700watt powersupply.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128651

that thing seems like a better bet, its exactly the same except it has smaller heat sinks and the second pci slot has 4 pipes, which is a hot topic for debate...its probably still enough for having a good 2x gpu setup.  GPUs are getting fast as shit though, a 280x is basically an xbox one as far as computing power goes.  The 16 pipes ensures its data isnt getting bottlenecked before it can reach your cpu.  Which it isnt.  Say you had two gpus on one card like the 290 then you would want 16x on your pci slot.  If you are running two titans then you would want both pci slots to be 16.  Another option is just stick with the mobo you choose in the first place.

The gpu is for me always the hardest decision.  I would probably go for a gpu in the 300 dollar range cause fuck it, its 50 extra bucks. IF the card doesnt fit just take out the hard drive bay and mount your hard drive in one of the 5 1/4 inch bays.  Dont forget to order an extra SATA cable, or make 100% sure your motherboard comes with 3 (2 is the standard).

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Post  Zaq Mon Aug 04, 2014 12:15 am

Sapphic wrote:  Dont forget to order an extra SATA cable, or make 100% sure your motherboard comes with 3 (2 is the standard).
I had planned to grab a third Sata cable (1 for Hd, 1 for SSD & 1 for the optical is the split yes?).
After another day with far too much time spent looking at tech specs I think I’m sold on a 970 board.  I have 0 intention of dual-carding, and my brain translates ‘over clocking’ into “turn your computer into a large paperweight and then light it on fire” which makes it unappealing.

List http://pcpartpicker.com/p/QZbNxr
I’m back to the expensive card, because wheeeeeeeee.  It recommends a 750w psi which sounds like a lot.  I currently have a 600w chosen, and most of the calculators are guesstimating a ~500w draw (except the new egg one which called for 900+ lol).  The most aggressive # I saw was a 554w #.  Is that still a comfortable fit, or should I look into something a beefier?

One last related thought.  Given all the heat generated, should I think about getting an additional case fan to attach and help move air out of the case, or is that unnecessary?

Oh and one more thing, do the gpu fans point down?  Just trying to visualize how that works and doesn’t just blow hot-ass breath back and forth between the it and the Psu.  Some kind of magic?  I guess that means the wireless antenna should fit fine though hooray.


Also, I saw Guardians of the Galaxy the other day.  Was fun.  3D is still retarded, but I recommend as worthwhile entertainment.

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Post  Sapphic Mon Aug 04, 2014 7:44 am

I like it.  It might be a bit over budget but assuming nothing is faulty it will handle everything until they release the next consoles.  For christmas you should drop like 70 bucks on a mechanical keyboard and get a nice nerd mouse.  The smug satisfaction you get will increase your K/D ratio and also help you talk better smack to plebs and fundies.  Welcome to the PC master race brother.

The fans on the gpu point down. most cards those are intake fans so they are sucking air in.  Then through the magic of science they push the hot air out an exhaust on the back. Be prepared to be surprised at the hugeness of your gpu.  Also that cpu cooler is gonna be enormus too.  Anyway some genius cases have the PSU pointing straight up, never understood why they would do that.  Better designed cases have the PSU pointing down and blowing hot air into the floor, which also doesnt really make much sense because it would just blow straight back into the case.  Not sure why everyone moved them from the top.  Probably some center of gravity bullshit puff could explain.  

Looks like your case has exhaust ports to point the psu down, so you shouldnt have to much issue there.  I have my computer on some plant stands I bought from walmart, but mainly that was so I could roll it around.  I never really thought about it helping the airflow but I guess it does that.

I havent used cosair cases before but hear good things about them, for 100 bucks I would expect your case to have good airflow.  You might want another fan but you can pick one of those up locally if you deem it necessary.  I actually am just using the stock cooler on my cpu, and it works fine.  Your cooler is nice if you can point the fans in the direction of your choosing, then you can just blast it out the top.  I think you will be fine with what you have but if your case only comes with one fan you might want another one.  Its best to check once you have it up and running.

they way i do it is put a monitoring program on there like cpuz.  Im super hipster so I still use prime95 to stress test my system, but im sure there are plenty of other options.  What ever you use set everything to max and make sure its using your gpu and let it go.  If something is not getting good air circulation, or you used too much thermal past you will know pretty much instantly.  I would maybe let it run for like 10 min or so and see what your temps are like. just to double check.  Some people say you should "burn" it for 24 hours, but I figure I can just do that playing games.  Regardless, the temps should be the same at 10-15 min, or 12 hours as they are at like 1-2 min.  If you overclock anything this is a good way to test your system is stable.  I havent bothered overclocking anything recently cause everything is fast as shit already, but now they have it dumbed down to autistic slider level at this point...all you would have to do is move a slider in the bios to get your cpu running at 4 ghz, if you get bored.  hell your motherboard will probably install spam that will let you do it in windows. Pretty sure my last gigabyte mother board did this.  It had 3 stop lights, green is normal, yellow is a little overclock, and red was a "big" one.  You have the cooler for it so I would consider giving it a go.  its impossible to fry anything anymore, if anything gets to hot it will just shut off.  Actually I wouldnt recommend using automated software to overclock because it is best to actually learn what you are doing when playing around with voltage and frequencies.    I do give my gpu a little boost, but it actually makes a difference.  wtf each of my posts is getting longer and longer, heres those programs i mentioned

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

http://download.cnet.com/Prime95-64-bit/3000-2053_4-75869492.html

(becareful not to install cnet spam ware on your new computer, probably a better link out there.)

Do I know you on steam?  if not here is my profile you can spam me questions if you get stuck putting it together.
http://steamcommunity.com/id/twisted999

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Post  Zaq Tue Aug 05, 2014 9:55 am

Thanks a ton, probably order everything later tonight. I’m sure I’ll have oodles more questions but nothing for the moment. I think I’ve got everyone’s info on steam, definitely yours (steam level 24 wha?) which will be handy when Hutch’s “legos for adults” turns out to be a massive lie.

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Post  smashlyevans Tue Aug 05, 2014 3:33 pm

Lols it's true though

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Post  Sapphic Tue Aug 05, 2014 10:11 pm

Its true...star shape only fits in star hole.  Now put square thing in square hole.  If it fits it works if it doesn't it plugs in somewhere else.  the only thing that can be tricky is putting on thermal paste, but if your cooler comes with it already on you are set, just use that.  On a rare occasion you will have to set the timing of your ram.  \o/ conputez

goldthorn is higher i think at 29. Some people are probably at 1k.  I have seen in the 600 range.  I tend to get like 4 levels per sale event heh. Thats when the cards sell best

Whats your steam name...fucking confusing shit that is.  I have no idea who anyone is cause they dont use their wow names.  Are you xxxBlaze420WKENDSEPIROTH69?  Probably not that guy has a one way pass with my mom and you live up north somewhere.

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Post  Zaq Tue Aug 05, 2014 11:36 pm

Hah. I decided to name tag everyone after fucking Lokky changed his tag every time I logged in for like a month, and I couldn’t figure out who all my new friends were. I had to log in to check what my id was “majesticolaf.” Good old lost vikings 2. I love that game.

Spears Iago’d me into picking a more expensive Seasonic Psu, but I think everything’s all set and I’ll probably buy it all tomorrow. I’ll post details when I start gluing my fingers together and catching my beard on fire.

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Post  Zaq Thu Aug 14, 2014 1:27 pm

So it is done and pretending to work.  Trying to lull me into a false sense of security before it cackles and belches out some fire.  Secretly I am quite pleased that I have managed to abuse you all and liberal googling to match the fan for the CPU to the port that says CPU fan.  Brilliant.  

As promised some highlights.  I even remembered to take a picture.
Interestingly enough I signed for 0 items, and the new egg stuff got left out on my porch @ like 8:30pm.  This strikes me as not the smartest of business decisions but maybe their normal audience likes a bit of adventure.

Anyway here’s a picture of some open boxes in a pile.  FisherPrice is trying to photobomb, but Winnie the Pooh is making sure no one hits the radiator and dies.  The window is closed because it was raining, the fan is on in the other window because it is August and I’m not trying to die even if rain + electronics are a bad mix.
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Things got off to a great start when the PSU didn’t line up with the screw placements on the case.  Uh-oh.  I had felt confident in my use of screwdrivers (college graduate and all), but there seems to be a problem here.  So there’s some science done on fitting it in, flipping it around, prayer.  Unsuccessful.  Eventually google reveals to me that there is a “screw” (more like a mount) in the case there that is often up too high.  Violence is the answer.  Hooray.

Things proceed reasonably well from there, if slowly.  I’m reasonably certain I could not have built it slower.  Some fun was had with the T-paste application.  In my novice opinion it appears everyone has their own way to do this, which is bullshit.  It’s not fucking art, make up your damn minds and pick a best technique.  Dicks.  Also mounting the ‘clamp’ part to hold the fan down to the Mobo involved much more force than I would have preferred (none would be the ideal in my book, that thing is expensive and you want me to push at it?).

Plugging the SATA power cables to the HD and SSD was much harder than it had any reason to be, the plugs are just a very close fit.  This led me to make 300 jokes to myself that have never been funny, but would have made me feel better if something snapped.

Cables weren’t too bad, the psu came with some very nice velcro wraps.  I can use velcro.  And the back of the case is spacious for putting shit I don’t need.  Figuring out what the case-cables were, and how to use them was the most annoying part.  In fact, I probably would have finished twice as fast if the case had come with an instruction manual of any worth.  Instead it had a list of features (broskis, I bought it already I don’t need a tour), and a single page detailing which type of screw to use on which items.  While the screw dictionary was nice, would it really have been that hard to make a useful manual?  NO.  It would not.

And eventually I was done.
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Hey that almost looks competent.  Appearances can be deceiving but it looks like it knows what it’s doing.  

And it worked.  Installing windows and other drivers was mostly painless.  I still have no idea how to actually use the OS for controlling anything, but that doesn’t stop most idiots and I am not most idiots.

Fun ensued the following morning when the CPU fan kicked into overdrive for no discernible reason.  This resulted in about 2hours of googling, turning things on for a bit, turning them off for a bit.  Being totally baffled by the Bios.  To add to the entertainment, periodically during this process the fan would return to normal, very quiet, use.  And then as soon as I was ready to call it a win.  BAM.  Party Hard is back.  Hutch decided it was probably possessed.  Which means that the ghost got bored I guess?  Because it has not reappeared as an issue.  Yet.

The end result is perhaps a bit too big for the desk.
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But that was true of the FisherPrice as well.  Which used a high quality bookshelf I found in the basement to support the cheap-o laptop cooler/fan and have space for a mouse.
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The technical upgrade is from a
2.8Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M 256 MB
4GB 1067Mhz memory
320 GB HD
To
3.5Ghz FX-8320 8-Core
Radeon R9 280x 3GB
8GB 1600Mhz memory
1TB HD
128GB SSD
which is a fairly significant step up.

Today is testing day to pretend like I understand how to make sure the parts are working ok.

So the question now is, what useful programs should I go about acquiring to make using the computer worthwhile.  For instance I have open office, which is ok but not great (free is the right price though).  I can manage the game part fine, although suggestions are welcome, but this is more a request for other useful items.

Zaq

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Post  Sapphic Thu Aug 14, 2014 5:49 pm

Don't put anything on it that you don't need.  It will just create clutter.  I would watch your temps really close...did you stress test it?  The fan thing sounds like something is getting hotter than it should be, i would just leave everything related to the fans on automatic.  If you used the thermal paste that came on the heatsink you might have too much or too little on your chip.  The insides look nice! Grats on the big upgrade.

Nice winnie the pooh pillow.

Sapphic

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Post  Zaq Wed Aug 20, 2014 12:46 pm

About case fans.
So I was playing sleeping dogs and noticed that the GPU was cooking at 69°.  That seems less than ideal.  After a decent bit of learning about fan bearing types and all kinds of nonsense about air pressure and Bernoulli, it seems like if I wanted to get add a fan, the thing to do is to add an intake and an exhaust.  So I was just curious if any of you bother with that kind of thing, and if so if you have any recommendations on the cheaper-end.

Zaq

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Post  Mermann Wed Aug 20, 2014 8:53 pm

hey there zap. i can give you some good tips about that last topic. It is a must to have fans to get air into the case and one taking the hot air out (physics ZACKARIS!). here is my setup (ctrl + zoom so you can see the whole picture):

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my CPU cooler has 2, the air direction for both fans are towards the back of the case, the same with the third one attached to the case.

on the lower corner, to the right, that fan is taking air from the outside. That way the air keeps flowing and it helps with the cooling of the internal components.

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regarding the type of fans i have, i recommend you these ones:

Cooler Master Jetflo 120 MM.

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-JetFlo-120-Performance/dp/B00E20SSWQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1408581125&sr=8-3&keywords=master+jetflo

those are the one without LEDs (i hate those fancy lights). they cost 16 each from amazon, they are cheaper now. mine cost me like 19 each and i bought 3. they are extremely good and the best part is: they are quiet. i hardly hear them and i remember you mentioned something about wanting a quiet computer.

here is a benchmark of my computer, case closed, max temp 61-62C full Load on CPU and GPU:

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IDLE temp 37-39C:

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Mermann

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Post  Zaq Sat Aug 23, 2014 12:38 am

Story Time.

So my possessed fans reappeared this afternoon.  And I have an epic tale of failure and defeat to rival the best of em.

I spent all "morning" -more like noon to 3- staring at math textbooks, planning homework assignments writing syllabi.  This can be fairly described as not fun.  Having had enough I figured I would break out Lucille and relax by slowwwwly killing stuff in D3.  I turned on the comp and was blasted by the fans.  "No" I said.  "Fuck that noise."  Both in general and very specifically.  "I have built a computer," I told myself, "so surely I can manage to figure out what's going on here."  John Williams played ominous foreshadowing music in the background but I could not hear it.

I opened up HWMonitor and looked around, hoping that something would be color coded so I could pretend to have known where to search.  The GPU fans were having a full on hootenanny.  3.8k RPM's for everyone.  I had the culprit.  I consulted my deep experience troubleshooting and arrived at the clear solution. Reboot the computer.  The 2nd commandment that God gave to Moses.  A tried and true method.  A great first step.  And one that had a proven track record of success with this exact issue.  It failed.  And it would fail repeatedly when used again in tandem with other less traditional ideas.

"Google will know." I said naively.  "I can't be the only person whose GPU fans just go buck wild for no reason."  I have never been so alone on the internet.  Lots of people have video card fan problems but no one had my problem.  I was a unique little snowflake dancing on the wind.  Hurricane force winds coming from the CPU fans, still partying hard despite a few shutdowns for quieter googling.

I installed an over clocking program that came with the video card.  It claimed to have a fan controller.  It did have a fan controller.  With a nice pretty graph for manipulating speeds based on temperatures.  "Ah ha! At last a use for my college degrees," I crowed as I surveyed the graph.  There was a small problem however.  The GPU knew it was cool.  It knew it should be running at 20% fan speed. It was claiming that 3786 RPMs was that 20% speed.

I considered this for a moment.  I have been ready for my computer to betray me and simply refuse to function, but I had not prepared myself for it to lie to my face so brazenly.  It was kind of stunning.  I briefly entertained the notion that my fans could spin at 1900 RPMs.  While that would be pretty badass, I'm reasonably confident that things would go spectacularly wrong before then.  So I played with some sliders, moved the graph around.  I achieved the dubious success of having it claim that 3766RPMs represented both 0 and 100% of the possible fan speeds.

I returned to the Googles.  I learned, eventually, that the amd driver package I had installed also included a fan controller in it's overclocking depths.  It was preceded by a very scary ToS that suggested strongly that these were not the droids I wanted to look for anymore.  But I trudged further into the depths of sliders and knobs, and found a fan setting.  "Automatic." it read.   Clearly "turnt the fuck up" wasn't a very useful automatic setting so I set it to manual, and turned the fan down.  

If you have read this far you'll understand that of course that did not work either.  Enraged I denounced the fan controllers, and their families.  I told them how I really felt about their upbringings.  And then I introduced those worthless little shits to my large muscled friend, Mr. Uninstaller.  It was glorious.  First Mr. U crushed the gnu program beneath his boots.  Then he drove the many parts of the AMD program package before him and savored the lamentations of their women.

Hubris is a painful thing.  Unbeknownst to me, somewhere amongst the pieces of bone and dead software was an important item.  AMD USB Filter.  There is another cruel irony later, but for now know that it is a driver, for USB stuff.

Immediately after Mr. U announced his victory.  "Mission Accomplished" Banners flying across his aircraft carriers, speeches at the ready.  The mouse stopped responding.  The keyboard's "numlock" light went out.  John Williams really let loose with the sad theme, but was again drowned out by the fans attempting to reach mach 4.

I blinked.  Slowly.  I was now confronted by a new problem.  I had a computer that turned on, booted to windows fine, but would not recognize the mouse or keyboard.  I rebooted.  The fans turned down.  I let loose a cry of Victo... no.  This problem was much worse than fans being too loud.  The screen blinked its boot options and then trucked back to windows.  But I saw.  The numlock light had been on.  I rebooted again, held down the bios key.  And YESSSS.  AMERICA. FUCK YEAH.  The keyboard worked.  The mouse worked too (it's slow as fuck in there, dunno why).  There were no discernible changes in the bios, but after a quick consultation with the old testament saw that Moses recommended restoring defaults.  So I did that.  Booted to windows, and as soon as windows took charge, the mouse and keyboard died.

I returned to my Googles.  It turns out that this is a more common problem than you would think.  And that several people had achieved their non-functioning usb ports by uninstalling the AMD package I had.  It became clear that this was no accident.  I had been sabotaged.  By. Fucking. Me.  The worst kind of traitors are the ones you never suspect.  "E tu brute?" I whispered to myself accusatorially.  Blame assigned I resumed the quest for resolution.  How could one install a usb driver with no mouse and no keyboard to implement instructions.  Was it possible to install something from a usb drive from the BIOS?  Could I reinstall the chipset drivers from the Mobo cd before windows took charge?  No.  And also No, perhaps with a hint of snickering.

I could it seemed, have used a PS2 mouse.  My mobo has PS2 ports.  But no one has seen one of those things since 1935, and I certainly did not have one.  I returned to the googles.  Someone suggested taking out the Mobo's battery (haha noty).  There was talk of editing the registry, which would probably be beyond me normally, but is certainly not something I can do telepathically you unhelpful jerks.

The final option then.  Moses had warned me.  Sometimes you just have to reinstall the whole fucking OS.  Goddamnit.  I wasn't even sure if I could use the OEM DVD to do that.  Would the registration key work?  Would it somehow break things even more?  How "perfect" would that be.  To go from loud fans, to no usb, to broken windows install.  I consulted google some more.  "It was possible," they said, "but here are seven or eight incredibly complicated alternatives that you don't understand but won't require a full reinstall."

I reinstalled.  Unplugged the HDD, deleted the SSD's partitions.  Slouched down to read something while it went to work.  It rebooted and told me it was setting up windows.  I panicked.  It was going to go back to windows and leave me without a working mouse and keyboard again?  You villainous weasel!  Then I remembered.  I had deleted that windows.  That was not what was happening.

The install went painlessly enough.   I started reinstalling drivers, and then realized I should connect my HDD to download and install stuff to. I started relocating the user folders when I realized something else had gone wrong.  The drive lettering had changed.  Previously it had been E.  Now it was the D.  I pondered this for a moment.  And then realized that meant that most of the programs wouldn't work because their files would be all in the wrong spot.  Or some other equally stupid windows shit.  So I consulted google again, was it possible to re-rename the drive paths.  It sure was.  And easy too.  Except the E drive wasn't a choice.  Because reasons?  No!  Because that was now the optical drive.  So.  I re-pathed the optical drive to Turkmenistan (T) and renamed the HDD to E.  User files moved after were no problem.

But where were all my applications in the start menu.  The important ones.  Like Steam.  Oh, and Avast was a good one.  I searched and found most of Avast's files, but it wouldn't run.  Steam initially claimed the same.  Some programs relented when I asked nicely, others did not, and probably are taking up extra space on the HDD.  But that's fine.  It's big enough for all of us, because for now, right this instant.  The computer works, and the fans aren't too loud.  Tomorrow I'll learn if the gpu fan will speed up properly or if one of the controllers needs to return, but for now there is something vaguely success-like.  It only took longer to fix than to build the computer in the first place, ~6hrs very roughly.

Oh, and that AMD USB driver?  Well apparently it enables usb 1.1 devices. I didn't reinstall it and no one appears to care.

This was very therapeutic to write.  I'm glad we have this story-telling tradition.  This is worth at least 4 ginvites, probably more.

Now I'm going to bed. Sleep

Zaq

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Post  Mermann Sat Aug 23, 2014 9:19 am

HHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHHA..................

maaaaaan zaq you are my hero, this is the most epic novel i have read hahaahah. i haven't had a good reading like this in ages, i laughted my ass off. jokes aside, yeh it was very frustrating.

let me start by telling you this: if you reinstall an OS, you just cant copy/paste the Program File folders as a backup. when installing a software into your computer, at the time of the installation there a a million files that goes all over the place in Windows folder, system32, registry entries, etc. Whats left on that folder (program files) are the files needed to launch the software which are useless on another machine and/or a new installation.

Motherboards CDs are worthless usually. at the time you get the motherboard purchased it has passed 3 months and they have had released like a million newer version than the one on the shipped CD.

Glad you solved it out lol.

were you able to see my post about the fans?


Edit: when i get home (yeah im a fucking slave, im working right now) i will post some screens of the software i use to control the fans of my vid. card and how fast rpm wise they run.

Mermann

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Post  Zaq Sun Aug 24, 2014 2:10 pm

Glad you liked it Merm.  I mostly wrote it to vent to myself and cheer up and then figured I could share.  The computer is back to working more or less.  But the GPU fan still is doing its own thing.  I contacted the card's tech support so I'll likely hear back from them in 2027.  Maybe Reddit will help.

Short version of the problem:  GPU fan will spin to 3.8k RPM even @ 40-50º.  Sometimes it will slow down again, other times will require a full reboot.  Can happen at the desktop, but mostly I've been using D3 and it will spin up and slow down seemingly at random.  I reinstalled the iTurbo thing because it has a fan controller, which works fine gently ramping up the speeds as needed, until it decides that 3787RPM is 30% of the fan speed.  https://imgur.com/a/yNInz I don't understand why.  Or how to get it to stop.

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Post  Mermann Sun Aug 24, 2014 8:21 pm

hmm its a strange behavior indeed, you may have to end up returning that card. if its on auto and/or a quiet profile, if it stays below 50-60C it shouldnt ramp up the fans RPM unless your case temp is too hot and/or you dont have ventilation (which i dont think its the case because your CPU temps looks normal).

On videocards i only trust 3 brands with my eyes closed: ASUS, gygabite and eVGA (my last eVGA lasted 6 years without a single issue and i ended up selling it). if you have to return your card i would recommend you to grab one of those 3 brands and you wont have that kind of issues. just save some brain cells and just try to RMA that PoS.

my 2c.

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